This sweeper is very good. Unlike our last sweeper, it is easy to empty the crud out, and the crud container can be wiped or rinsed clean.

Also, I discovered several other advantages. Our regular vacuum cleaner is heavy and noisy and gets hot and is difficult to empty (dust flies everywhere), and has to be plugged in, and using it is a chore and a labour, and doesn’t get used often. With this sweeper, I can push it through the whole house, without being restricted to the length of the tether (cable). It is quiet enough to use it at the end of the day, when children are settling for bed. Also, I can pick it up and carry it easily. Cleaning is becoming a pleasure, rather than a chore.

Okay, so it’s not perfect. It doesn’t do edges or the corners on the stairs, and I have to keep unwinding long hair from the brush bar. But for an everyday nip round, it’s very good.

Like this:

Hannah had a nosebleed yesterday, but all I did was put the bloodied clothes and handkerchiefs in the washing machine with everything else, and the modern detergent and ‘stain-removal powder’ did the rest, leaving everything beautifully clean.

Like this:

So our tumble dryer was on its last legs; we researched new tumble dryers. Bosch have a very swish machine; it has a self-cleaning condenser (the bit you never remember to clean that is such a faff) and is better than A rated.

My other friend tells me of a promotion, so we pick one up, while they are on special offer.

The difference between our old tumble dryer is fantastic. It is quiet in operation; we can live our lives without working around the noise of the tumble dryer.. The drum even has a light that prevents odd socks from hiding in it. And our electricity bill has been reduced. Hooray!

postscript:

My other friend says:

“It seems that your other friend is also enjoying the same model… he just never bothers to check the utility bills… but is glad you are doing it on his behalf… and is smug about saving the environment too. He also is enjoying being able to listen to the radio in the bath, without straining to hear over the sound of the previous machine. Now, if only the peacock in the garden wouldn’t make so much noise…”

Like this:

I don’t mind washing dishes, if the radio is on really loud, and there is someone drying the pots as I go, and I have nothing better to do, but this is rarely the case. Dishwashers are an excellent labour-saving device, because:
1) you can load them as you go along, and the dirty dishes are neatly hidden out of sight.
2) when the dishwasher is full, you just add soap and press the button, and then you can get on with your other things that you have to do.
3) When the dishes are clean, they will sit happily in the dishwasher, neatly hidden out of sight, until you are ready to put them away.
4) It is no harder emptying a dishwasher than it is drying the pots, and sometimes it is easier.
5) A lot of other things can be put in the dishwashwer more easily, so they are more likely to be washed. Some things are washed more efficiently: our lemon-squeezer jug had bits you couldnt’ reach washing by hand, and it was never really clean until it went in the dishwasher.
6) The dishwasher temperature is much hotter than you can wash up in, so it is more hygienic.

Like this:

I read this first tip in a parenting website: colour code everybody’s socks, so that you can sort them more quickly out of the wash. I haven’t exactly done that, but I did remember not to buy Sam white vests; it is a right pain having to check clothes by looking at the label.

Second tip: whenever I cook fishfingers they stick to the tin. Yesterday, I avoided this by the simple procedure of perching the fish fingers on top of the chips…